Ukraine's First Children’s Hospice
Donation protected
The number of patients needing palliative care in Ukraine is over 500 thousand per year. While there exist several hospices and palliative care departments for adults and seniors, only one is specialized for pediatric patients.
Meanwhile, there are upwards of 6,500 children between the ages of 0-19 who are in need of palliative care. Whether this is access to medication, to therapy, or to a general bettering of their end-of-life care environment, there is a high need for the development of pediatric palliative care in Ukraine. Not only that, but there is a need for support and bereavement counselling for families of ill children, who can benefit from better resources and better access.
The First Children’s Hospice in Ukraine (translation: Перший дитячий хоспіс) opened on Christmas Day, 2013, funded by donations acquired from a community fundraiser. People of Ivano-Frankivsk, the city where I was born, came together and raised enough funds to open this hospice. With 15 beds, the hospice accommodates children with incurable or terminal stage-illnesses such as cancer, severe cerebral palsy and other neurological conditions from newborn to 18 years of age that require palliative and long-term care. Hospice specialists also offer important counselling sessions and respite care for patient’s families.
Currently Ukraine is facing serious hardships, and the country’s dire economic situation has made donations hard to come by. The political and social unrest makes for a climate where people don't have enough money for themselves, much less for charitable donations.
Dear friends, the hospice needs our help! Right now they really need donations to cover costs for the building of a specialized physiotherapy pool for children with cerebral palsy and other severe neurological conditions. This helps children improve physical functioning, especially if children are unable to walk and move around much on their own. Additionally, money is needed to cover running costs, medications, and utility bills.
All donations will be transferred directly to the hospice via Westen Union system to Dr. Lyudmila Andriyishyn, chief specialist on palliative care of the Ivano-Frankivsk district and one of the Hospice founders.
Prior fundraising led to fantastic results. Two parishes of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada – the Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Lethbridge and St. Vladimir's Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Calgary raised 1250$. This amount was matched by the research company Plantbiosys, yielding a total of 2450$ for the hospice. More information about the Hospice and Palliative Care Foundation is available online here:
http://palliative.if.ua/en/clinic-centre/childrens-hospice/
Each dollar will make a difference!
Thank you for your kind consideration,
Best regards,
Anna Kovalchuk
Meanwhile, there are upwards of 6,500 children between the ages of 0-19 who are in need of palliative care. Whether this is access to medication, to therapy, or to a general bettering of their end-of-life care environment, there is a high need for the development of pediatric palliative care in Ukraine. Not only that, but there is a need for support and bereavement counselling for families of ill children, who can benefit from better resources and better access.
The First Children’s Hospice in Ukraine (translation: Перший дитячий хоспіс) opened on Christmas Day, 2013, funded by donations acquired from a community fundraiser. People of Ivano-Frankivsk, the city where I was born, came together and raised enough funds to open this hospice. With 15 beds, the hospice accommodates children with incurable or terminal stage-illnesses such as cancer, severe cerebral palsy and other neurological conditions from newborn to 18 years of age that require palliative and long-term care. Hospice specialists also offer important counselling sessions and respite care for patient’s families.
Currently Ukraine is facing serious hardships, and the country’s dire economic situation has made donations hard to come by. The political and social unrest makes for a climate where people don't have enough money for themselves, much less for charitable donations.
Dear friends, the hospice needs our help! Right now they really need donations to cover costs for the building of a specialized physiotherapy pool for children with cerebral palsy and other severe neurological conditions. This helps children improve physical functioning, especially if children are unable to walk and move around much on their own. Additionally, money is needed to cover running costs, medications, and utility bills.
All donations will be transferred directly to the hospice via Westen Union system to Dr. Lyudmila Andriyishyn, chief specialist on palliative care of the Ivano-Frankivsk district and one of the Hospice founders.
Prior fundraising led to fantastic results. Two parishes of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada – the Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Lethbridge and St. Vladimir's Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Calgary raised 1250$. This amount was matched by the research company Plantbiosys, yielding a total of 2450$ for the hospice. More information about the Hospice and Palliative Care Foundation is available online here:
http://palliative.if.ua/en/clinic-centre/childrens-hospice/
Each dollar will make a difference!
Thank you for your kind consideration,
Best regards,
Anna Kovalchuk
Organizer
Anna Kovalchuk
Organizer
Lethbridge, AB
